11.29.2011

Our first view (and first impression) of a book can be it's spine. Sitting on a bookshelf with much competition and little real estate, first impressions need to be good, especially if you're a newcomer. These books fill all those requirements, beautifully.

11.27.2011

Today's vintage children's book is The Mitten, illustrated by Yaroslava. Born Aka Yaroslava Surmach, she often was credited as Yaroslava in her books. Besides being an illustrator, Yaroslava was an art director/editor for the children's magazine Humpty Dumpty. She created stained glass windows for the St. Demetrius Ukranian Catholic church in Toronto, and the glass entrance doors to the NewYork Senate Building. Yaroslava's reverse glass paintings were made into greeting cards. To read more about Yaroslava, click here.

11.25.2011

Today's vintage children's book is Seven Little Rabbits illustrated by the outstanding Barbara Cooney. Cooney (1917-2000) had a prolific career, illustrating over 200 books. She won two Caldecott Medals, the first for Chanticleer and the Fox, the second for Ox-Cart Man. In 1975 Cooney was awarded the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion for her outstanding contributions to children's literature.

Seven Little Rabbits

By John Becker

Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Scholastic Inc., 1973

To read a previous post about another book illustrated by Barbara Cooney, Miss Rumphius, click here. To read more about Barbara Cooney, click here or here.

11.23.2011

Today's vintage children's picture book, The Owl and the Woodpecker , is a repost from September 2010. Brian Wildsmith's illustrations in this fabulous book are a feast for the eyes. His depictions of wildlife and nature are a riot of textures, layers, patterns and jazzy color.

The story is about a woodpecker and an owl who are at odds with each other because of different sleeping schedules and noise issues. They eventually come up with a solution to solve their problem.

The Owl and the Woodpecker

Illustrated by Brian Wildsmith

Franklin Watts, 1972

Wildsmith's first children's book, ABC, published in 1962, won the Kate Greenaway Medal, Britain's equivalent of theCaldecott Medal. He was also a runner up for the same medal for The Owland the Woodpecker. In 1994 the Brian Wildsmith Museum of Art was established in Izukogen, Japan (near Tokyo) where 800 of his paintings are on loan to the museum. This museum was designed to look (as much as possible) like Wildsmith's house in Southern France. If I ever get to Japan...

Wildsmith states on his website: “I believe that beautiful picture books are vitally important in subconsciously forming a child’s visual appreciation, which will bear fruit in later life.” I couldn't agree more.

Wish I had time today to add more scans of the book, but I'm hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and have tons to do. I'll put it on my list of things to do and let you know when they are up.

11.22.2011

Today's vintage children's book is The River Queen, with stellar illustrations by Peter Burchard. This is one of those books where the artist has done so much with a limited color scheme. In this case I think it has made the book very striking. Not a lot of information about Peter Burchard that I can find, but here is one link at Wikipedia.

I like this illustration, feels like someone Burchard knew personally. Also like the tattoo - might steal this idea on a smaller scale. My four children (who are not children, range in age from 17-29) and I are going to get a tattoo to commemorate my father who passed away at the end of the summer. He served our country in the Navy very proudly. If you knew my dad, you knew he was in the Navy. It was an experience he carried with him and talked about all his life.

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I love looking at the art in children's picture books and I hope that you do too. My blog focuses on the art and artists of vintage children's books, largely from the 1950's through 1980's. Please join me as we look at these treasures and the artists behind them.